


The Things We Must Do

by LegendAtlas



Series: Puyostory Anthology [2]
Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: Breaking and Entering, Character Death, Dark Magic, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Human Sacrifice, Mind Manipulation, Puyostory, klug worships the equivalent of an old god, lidelle is absolutely traumatized
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26570899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegendAtlas/pseuds/LegendAtlas
Summary: Lidelle gets in way over her head.
Relationships: Lidelle/Tarutaru (Puyo Puyo)
Series: Puyostory Anthology [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799482
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	The Things We Must Do

**A Voice.**

It had all started with the strangest racket in the woods during the middle of the night. Lidelle had no idea what to make of the noise, especially since the booming thuds sounded like a monster whose size she couldn't even begin to fathom. Her first instinct had been to run and hide, as it always was, but the longer the unusual cacophony went on, the more she started to wonder. Maybe a giant creature got stuck in the forest and couldn't get out?

With that thought in mind, the imp took ten minutes, prepared herself, and departed. Then another thud let off, and she scrambled back into her hovel for another ten minutes.

When she finally headed out, she had taken her blanket and wrapped it around herself in a defensive cocoon, keeping her form low to the ground as she stumbled through the undergrowth. Thorns and vines poked against her face, which had grown rough from previous excursions like this. Truth be told, the young girl found the sensation almost soothing-- it was as if the forest was petting and reassuring her with its spindly embrace.

The thing she had expected to discover was not at all what she found. There were a lot of things she thought would be there, but Klug standing in front of a recently-formed crater was not one of them. The forest around said crater was lit aflame, slowly withering as heat licked away at the leaves and grass. The bespectacled student was currently facing away from her, chanting in an unknown language as he looked through his scroll.

Lidelle wasn't sure what was happening, but she was terrified, frozen to the spot. The entire area just felt... wrong, horribly wrong, like the universe was tugging at her skull in all directions. There was probably a better way to explain what was off about it, but she lacked both the mental capacity and the vocabulary to formulate it at that point in time.

It seemed like ages before Klug suddenly stopped chanting, jolting in pain before reaching up to rub the back of his head. "Well, that wasn't the right pronunciation either," he muttered, fully unfolding the scroll. "Is such precision really necessary?"

The scroll offered no reply that Lidelle could hear, but Klug nodded in thought. "I guess that makes sense. We're trying to make history after all." He paused for a second. "Someone's here?"

He spun around, his free hand engulfed in black flames in preparation for an attack. Lidelle, unprepared for a fight, squealed and pulled the blanket tighter around herself in a meager defense. Silence plagued the air for a moment, then Klug looked down, finally recognizing who was in front of him.

"Ah, Lidelle!" He extinguished his magical flame and lowered his hand to pet her, smiling. "I'm sorry, I must've woken you up."

"W-were you the one making all that n-noise...?" She asked, looking up at him. His glasses always shone and covered his eyes, leaving the majority of his expressions difficult to identify.

"Yes, yes, that was me alright. These special spells of mine are quite noisy, so I practice them out here. I suppose I should find a better spot to do that..."

"Y-yeah... um... did you make that giant hole?"

"That I did! I just figured out a new spell, but it needs a little more work before I can use it reliably."

"I hope you didn't h-hurt anyone..."

"Who would be up at this time of night?"

"Well... we're both up."

Klug sighed. "Very funny."

She winced. "S-sorry... um... if I may ask, who were you talking to?"

He hesitated, then knelt down. "I can tell you, but it's going to be our little secret, alright? Only you and I will know."

She nodded, and he unfurled the scroll, revealing a variety of ink blotches on the old, faded papyrus. After a few seconds, the blobs started to shift and sway, eventually taking the vague form of a face. Lidelle wasn't sure what to make of it, but she found it fascinating, coming out of her blanket somewhat and watching as the being undulated and warbled.

"It's neat," she said, reaching out to touch it. It scattered away from her hand, reforming near the top of the scroll. "Does it have a name?"

"Its name is Zxyxklyx, or at least that's what it told me. I found it in a Skritzian ruin before I became an exchange student."

"Oh, so you've known each other for a while...?"

"Indeed! It's even been helping me learn spells that would make even the most powerful of mages jealous!"

"Oh, wow... I'd like to learn some spells like that... that way n-no one could hurt me and my friends..."

Klug thought for a bit, glanced at the scroll, and nodded. "Zyx says it would be willing to teach you, but it wants to know if it can trust you. These spells are extraordinary and we can't let them get into the wrong hands."

"It can trust me! I won't tell a s-soul..."

"...It doubts that. It says to meet me here at 1:00 AM tomorrow and we can set up a test for you."

"O-okay..."

"Good. I'll see you then." Klug turned around and hopped into the crater, and when Lidelle ran up to the edge to see where he was going, he was nowhere to be found.

**A Lie.**

It was 1:30, and Klug was nowhere to be seen. Lidelle was worried, obviously, but it gave her the opportunity to think about what she was doing as she sat at the edge of the crater.

This place was clearly home to something obscene-- the quiet dread that had settled into her chest like a rock when she stood here was too vague and foreboding to be her nerves acting up. And honestly, it just felt worse in general because when you know what you're afraid of, you at least have some idea of how to get away from it.

She had absolutely no idea what to do here, which confused her, as if it was the place itself that bothered her, she just needed to get up and leave. But leaving didn't feel like the right course of action right now. Maybe it wasn't the place, then. After all, places are rather stationary, and they couldn't do anything to you if you stayed away.

Maybe it was that paper blob thing? ...No, no, as much as she was nervous about that being, it wasn't the same feeling she felt right now. That had been a faint excitement of all the prospects she could be facing; this was an empty anxiety that permeated her soul.

...Maybe it was Klug.

Why was she scared of him, though? As much as a braggart as he was, and how he and Raffina got into a lot of fights that ended in scratches and bruises, she couldn't recall Klug ever being mean to her in particular. Why, Lidelle was the one that Klug treated the kindest-- he was always cordial with her, and whenever she was alone and afraid, he would go over to her and help in his own, strange way. She still remembered the time some Papirisu stole her favorite watering can, and he went over there and got it back, even if he had tripped over that can of red paint along the way.

But now she was beginning to wonder why he was treating her so well. She didn't think she had done anything to deserve it, after all. They were just classmates, and nothing more. ...Maybe that's why she was afraid of him: she never understood what was running through his mind when he did things. Amitie was nice because she wanted to be nice, Sig was nice because he got no enjoyment out of being mean, Raffina was nice sometimes because it was advantageous for her to do so. But Klug... Klug was nice because... because...

"Hey, Lidelle!" The little imp nearly jumped out of her skin as a new voice shook her out of her thoughts. She turned, and standing before her was Raffina. Her arms were crossed, and her stance, while relaxed, looked ready to jump into action. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Um..." Lidelle slowly swayed from side to side as she considered her options. She could just up and admit that she was waiting for Klug, but that would've rendered the entire excursion moot. "I... couldn't sleep. What are y-you doing up?"

"I was out practicing my kicks-- night air's always the best when you're developing your talents."

"I see..." She wasn't sure why, but that answer didn't quite sit right with her.

"What's up with this giant crater?"

"O-oh, this? Uh... I dunno. It was just sorta... here."

Raffina walked up to the edge and peered down, eyes gathering as much of the empty black as she could. "It's huge... I wonder what made this?"

"Um... good question." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"It must've been something dangerous! And powerful! Now, I wouldn't call myself a tattletale, but this seems like something we need to tell Ms. Accord about."

"W-what? N-no! I, I mean..." Not good, not good. She needed to come up with a way to get Raffina off her back.

"Mmm? What's the matter, Liddy?"

"It's just... uh... actually I know why this crater's here."

"Oh?" She knelt down beside the imp, her expression suddenly turning a shade colder. "Go on."

"Erm... ah... K-K... Amitie! Amitie goes over here and practices her magic s-sometimes! She lost control of a fireball and I found her trying to put out all the flames and she begged me not to tell anyone... s-so much for that, I guess..."

Raffina stared at her for a few moments, then slowly nodded. "Her magic's far greater than I realized..."

"Please don't tell anyone..."

"I won't, Lidelle." Her voice was no longer Raffina's, but Klug's.

Lidelle blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, and when she lowered her hands, Klug was standing where Raffina once was.

"Ah, Mr. Klug!" Lidelle squealed, stumbling back. "Y-you, her, h-how--"

"It's one of my many fantastic spells! I'm sorry for doing that to you, but it's the test we conducted!"

"I... what?"

"You passed the test." He walked up to her and pulled her back to her feet with a grin. "Congratulations!"

Lidelle glanced down, not wanting to look him in the eyes. "But I lied..."

"There are things people must do for others, and lying is one of the many things. What we have here is an ancient secret, and people are bound to misunderstand it. It's better that they remain unaware of it, even if we have to depart from the truth to keep it that way."

She did not respond, her eyes planted to the ground.

"Hey, hey..." Klug placed a hand under her chin and raised her head up, forcing her to look into the pure white circles that were his glasses. "It's okay. You took the initiative to protect our knowledge, and that's great! And I think we promised you some practice here, didn't we?"

She swallowed, then slowly nodded.

"Then how about we practice? You deserve it."

She nodded again, and he let go of her face, making his way to the edge. He stepped off, and this time he did not vanish as he slid to the bottom. "Come along now," he shouted, "we're burning precious moonlight!"

With Klug at the bottom, Lidelle now had a reference to figure out how large the crater was in the dark-- approximately the size of a modest living room. She carefully slipped one foot over the lip, then the other, scraping against the wall as she slid down at an agonizingly slow pace.

When she finally made it down, she found Klug staring up at the night sky, She followed his gaze, taking note that Ursa Major was directly overhead. But the longer she watched, the smaller she felt; it was as if the crater was slowly pulling itself deeper and deeper, and the walls appeared to be reaching into the atmosphere.

"Goes to show how small we are," Klug muttered to himself, not moving an inch.

"What?"

"A-ah, nothing." He looked back down and adjusted his glasses. "Just my ramblings... anyway, let's begin."

In the space of a couple hours, fear and anxiety were quashed, replaced with awe and wonder, gained from curious delving into knowledge lost eons ago. And yet it still didn't feel quite right.

**A Wreck**

"Have I ever told you about Limbo?"

"No, you haven't..." Lidelle casted Abyss again, watching the hastily-crafted target dummy crumple in on itself from a sudden lack of a torso. The nearby wildlife scattered and hid from the sight, as they always did.

"It's a wonderful world, from what I've heard. Zyx told me about it a while ago."

"Really?" Lidelle walked over to a fallen log and sat down, her fingers somehow both numbed and aching from all the practice. She held her gnarled hands close to her chest, hidden under sleeves that were far too large for her arms. "What's it like?"

Klug sat down beside her, and she could've sworn that his glasses were glinting more than they usually did, which would've been an achievement in of itself. "Imagine a world where you could be as powerful as a god. Imagine a world where the infinite black is your canvas, and you could make it into whatever your heart desired, as long as you had the will to make it so."

"That sounds... beautiful...~" Her thoughts were filled with ideas of what she could make, from expansive woodland streams to castles high up in the clouds. "How do we get there?"

"Ah... now that's the tricky part. It's in one of the darkest corners of the universe, so far away that few are even aware of it at all. Zyx comes from there, but we haven't been able to get back there yet."

"Aw..." Lidelle's ears drooped, and Klug reached over to pet her again. "I wanted to make Hallowell Jungle..."

"In due time... we might not be able to get there as of right now, but I can sense we're getting close. Soon, The Unspeakable will bring Limbo to us, and we can live in paradise."

She wasn't sure why, exactly, but the moment he uttered the word "Unspeakable", her body proceeded to lock up on her-- shoulders were raised, lips were bitten, and legs were primed for jumping. She gulped, then shuddered, allowing the wave of shock to depart as suddenly as it came. "The Unspeakable?" She asked, wincing at how unusual the words tasted on her tongue.

"Ah, look at me, rambling again-- I'm sorry, but I don't think now is a good time to be discussing it. Perhaps once you've learned more of our magic?"

She shook her head and sighed. To be honest, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know yet.

"Alright. Maybe we could practice for when you reach Limbo?"

"Practice what...? We can't just m-make things out here..."

"No, but an important factor of Limbo is that everyone there can alter it, and you're most certainly going to clash with them at one point."

"What are you saying...?"

"Simply put, you need to grow a backbone. If people in Limbo realize they can take advantage of you, then they'll keep you under their thumb for as long as they can. You need to develop both your bark and your bite, so to speak-- show people they can't push you around."

"How are we gonna--"

"--do that? Why, I have an idea for that~ Come meet me behind Raffina's house-- I will explain more there." He immediately took off, his clothes whipping about.

"W-why there?" Lidelle called out, fumbling off the log.

"Just trust me!" And with that, he disappeared into the dark, leaving her behind to navigate alone.

Thankfully she was quite used to exploring the forest by herself. What she wasn't used to was wandering to Raffina's house in the middle of the night. To be honest, Lidelle thought it was a little weird that Raffina was the only one of the students that had an actual house-- almost everyone else had a dorm room, except her own little hovel. Amitie didn't seem to have a dorm, but Lidelle had no idea where she actually lived.

She wasn't sure how long she had spent wandering the outskirts of Primp in search of the house, but it had to have been a while. Over time, though, a little voice began to breach the back of her mind. It was nonsensical at first, but slowly it grew more clear and organized, taking on a blank, straightforward tone.

  
"Left... left... left..."

The imp paused, glancing around to try to figure out where the voice was coming from. The repeating word changed to point in the same direction as she reoriented herself, but no matter where she turned, the voice seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. She remained in place for a few long seconds, debating whether to listen to the unknown existence.

With the realization that she didn't have any other plan at the moment, she turned to where she was originally being directed, and trotted off.

"Forward... forward... forward..."

Every once in a while, the instruction would change, and after a couple minutes, Lidelle had found herself at the back end of a modest house. Klug was perched up against the wall, holding his hand to his forehead in an unusual gesture. Slowly, she approached, and as soon as he turned to greet her, the voice in her head became dead silent.

"Ah, I see it worked."

"Was... was that you?"

"Yes, yes. You were taking too long, so I pulled a few strings."

"...Could... could you not do that next time? It's creepy."

"Be faster next time and I won't have to. Anyway, follow me." Klug made his way around the wall, and Lidelle followed. They arrived at the front door, and he reached out to open it. It softly shook and rattled, signaling that it was locked.

"Oh, for the love of..." he hissed, pressing his palm up in front of the keyhole as he resumed tugging at the doorknob.

Lidelle watched, vaguely puzzled at not only what Klug was trying to do, but why Raffina's door was locked in the first place, as burglaries were very rare in Primp Town. Furthermore, she was wondering why they were trying to get in there in the first place, and she asked Klug as such.

"Well, I've heard that Raffina doesn't treat you well, is that right?"

"She... isn't very nice, no."

He nodded, grabbing her arm and circling around to the balcony. "So," he said, digging through his backpack and pulling out a rope, "I figured we could give her a little payback for being a jerk."

She frowned, looking up at the railing with unease. "Are we going to hurt her?"

"We can if you want, but first I need you to get this rope up there and tie it." He shoved it into her arms.

"I-I don't want to hurt her!"

She somehow saw Klug roll his eyes from behind his impenetrable glasses. "Alright, fine. We can just break some of her stuff then."

"I... don't want to do that either. Can we just talk to her tomorrow and tell her to be nicer?"

"I mean, you could, but right now you're not giving her any real reason to be nice. If you don't put your foot down and show her what you're capable of, she's just going to keep pushing you around."

"I... guess."

"Plus we bothered to get our stuff and head all the way out here-- I didn't make us both come out here and only get five hours of sleep to just back out. Now are you going to get the rope ready or not?"

"I got it..."

She placed the woven threads against her teeth and held them there, taking a few steps back as she surveyed the balcony. Raising her hands up high, she began to move them in little circles above her head, the end of her sleeves trailing slightly behind. As she began skipping towards her target, she spun her hands around in wider and wider motions, and with the last step, she jumped into the air.

"Vento!" She announced, and was almost immediately lifted up high above the balcony by a sudden updraft of wind. With her frantically-spinning arms slowing her descent, she maneuvered into place and landed with a soft thud. She peeked down past the railing to see Klug, picking his hat up from off the ground and mumbling to himself. Lidelle, not wanting to comment, began tying the rope onto the balcony.

"It's ready, Klug."

"Good, good!" He turned around and rubbed his hands together before clutching the flaxen cords between his palms, his scroll fluttering to the ground. He took a deep breath, then hoisted himself up... about an inch off the ground; Klug was not an athlete in any sense of the word. Lidelle couldn't help but find amusement in the inchworm-like movement he was employing to scale the rope, watching as he curled and straightened his way up.

The warlock was wheezing as he finally approached the balcony, not even bothering to stick the landing as he pulled himself up and over the railing. Flat on his back, he gasped for breath.

"I really need to learn a teleportation spell or something," he huffed, staring up at the sky.

Lidelle paused, suddenly remembering that first night in Nahe Forest. "Um... I thought you already knew one."

Klug cocked his head, appearing to be in thought. "No, I don't."

"What about that time you disappeared in the crater?"

"...I did what, now?"

"When we first met at the crater, you slid down and suddenly vanished."

"Well, it was really dark that night. You probably just didn't see me."

"But I could see you going down it the night after."

"Look," he tuttered, shaking his head. "I don't know what you did or didn't see that night, but I don't know how to teleport. Stop asking me."

She wasn't satisfied with that answer, but Klug's tone told her it would be better to change the subject. "Okay... um, I think you forgot Zyx."

"...Did I?" He scrambled to his feet after a few seconds, leaning over the railing. "Huh, so I did." He snapped his fingers and the scroll billowed, fluttering in a nonexistent wind as it flew up and into his grasp.

"Sorry, Zyx." Nothing was said for a moment. "Alright, alright, I got it."

He turned to the balcony door and pushed on it. This one was unlocked, thankfully, and the two made their way inside. The room was in general disarray; a pile of clothes sat in the corner, and the comforter was sprawled atop the bed at weird angles. The wooden dresser just to the right of the bed was coated in a thin layer of dust.

"Seems to be a guest bedroom," Klug whispered, stalking forward in the dark to open the only other door in the room, only to discover it was already ajar. He peeked out into the hallway, then motioned for Lidelle to follow. She did so, albeit hesitantly, already starting to regret her decision to come here.

He carefully pushed open the door directly in front of the guest bedroom, then grinned. "There she is."

The other bedroom was in seemingly better condition than the first, though the imp couldn't see all of it from the doorway. Dark, purple walls surrounded them on all sides, an exotic rug took up most of the floor, and the lump in the queen-sized bed that was only covered by one wall indicated that someone was sleeping there. Or at least, she hoped Raffina was sleeping-- she couldn't get a very good look at it, but she could've sworn that the bump was far more still than it should've been.

Klug attempted to enter, but Lidelle clamped onto his leg and pulled him back. "No," she barely hissed, "we're not here to hurt her."

He looked down at her, a sharp frown creasing his face, but he said nothing and backed out, closing the door as he did so. Instead, he made his way down the hall. There was a bathroom here, but he paid it no mind as he found the stairs and began to descend. Lidelle was a few seconds behind him, unable to see him as the stairs spiraled around.

Just as she was starting to relax again, a sudden KLANG rung out through the air, as if a pot suddenly launched through across the room below and beaned Klug in the face. And it evidently did bean Klug, as the sound of a collapsing body followed it. She froze in place, her ears swiveling to see if any other sounds were down there.

"I knew it," huffed a womanly voice she recognized as Raffina's. "Creep."

It was at that point that Lidelle knew she had to get out of here. She beelined her way back up the stairs, picking up the pace when Raffina shouted "HEY, GET BACK HERE!" and gave chase.

Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest as she reached the second floor, and she couldn't help but scream internally. Something flew over her head and slammed into the end of the hallway with another KLANG. From what little she saw of it, Lidelle thought it was a frying pan, but there were more pressing issues to be dealing with as she careened into the guest bedroom.

She saw moonlight-- she was almost out! She started twirling her arms around in preparation to shoot off into the sky, but she forgot about the pile of clothes and toppled over, her face buried in unused t-shirts. Her hands struggled for purchase, but couldn't find it. The lights turned on, and there was silence.

"Lidelle?" She could feel herself being picked up by the collar of her shirt and froze. "What the... what are you doing here with him?!" She was promptly tossed back into the clothes pile again, and she turned around, staring up at Raffina. Much to Lidelle's surprise, her expression wasn't of anger so much as a mix of fear and concern, highlighted by baggy eyes.

"Um, um...! I saw someone sneak into your house and--"

"Quit the bullcrap," Raffina suddenly shouted, "I heard you Ventoing your way up here and I saw you tying the rope to the balcony!"

"I-- oh-- that's why..." Lidelle could barely formulate words at this point, beginning to hyperventilate.

Raffina firmly clapped her hands onto Lidelle's shoulders. "Look, I need you to calm down, take a few deep breaths, and talk to me. Can you do that?"

Lidelle nodded, gasping in air at chaotic intervals until she began to slow down. Her head felt like it was full of water, and she rested on the pile of laundry as she struggled to empty it out and regain her senses.

Why wasn't Raffina punching her lights out right now? Why was she waiting for her? Why was she pacing about and stealing glances in the hallway?

Eventually, she was able to form a coherent sentence. "Raffina? A-are you mad?"

"Yes, but not at you. Please, tell me what you and Klug are doing here." Her voice was shaking, pleading almost.

"Um... Klug said that I needed to grow a backbone for Limbo, so we came here to... break your stuff and teach you a lesson."

"Limbo?" Raffina asked, suddenly growing pale.

"Yeah, it's a wonderful place, and--"

"Noooooooo nonononono it's not!" Raffina clawed her hair, her glances at the hallway growing more frantic. "I've heard the whole spiel-- I've looked into it-- you need to stay away from it-- and him!"

"Why...?"

"Please, you need to trust me on this!" She leaned in to stare into Lidelle's eyes. "You don't know what you're getting into! I barely know what I've gotten into trying to research it! You need to go, and never talk to him again, and stay out of this void magic business, okay?"

"O-okay..."

"Promise me!"

The word caught in her throat, and she stammered. Raffina seemed to know what she was doing, and...

Oh... oh no.

Raffina must've realized why Lidelle had froze up, as she suddenly spun around and attempted to deliver a roundhouse kick to Klug, who was right behind her. But before she could muster enough kinetic energy for an attack, he swiftly clenched his hand around her forehead and face like a giant spider, and her body quickly assumed a default, standing position.

After several, silent seconds, he let go of her face and she shambled off, down the hallway, down the stairs... and not long after she departed from view, the sound of various things being broken could be heard.

"Thank you for distracting her." Klug's voice had gone completely cold. "It's unfortunate that we couldn't do what we came for, but it'd be best for us to leave now."

He turned off the lights and grabbed her arm, dragging her out to the balcony. Once they reached the rope, he let go and began to slide down it. "Untie it and glide down," he ordered from the ground. "And don't pay any mind to what she said-- she'll say anything to discredit me."

"I dunno," she said, starting to undo the knot, "she sounded genuine to me."

"It's not, trust me. She's just jealous of what I... we can do. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but her magic capabilities are... very poor."

On a basic level, the argument made sense; Raffina hardly ever used magic-- and the few she did use were often spells taught to little children, like a generic light spell or basic levitation.

But the longer she thought about it, the more alarm bells started ringing in her head. Of course, now was not the time to bring that up to anyone, so she said nothing as she glided back down.

"See you tomorrow," he said with a tone of finality as he departed.

Even though he wasn't looking at her, Lidelle could've sworn that he was watching her as she returned home.

**A Warning**

Lidelle could barely handle going to school the next day. Her desk was next to Raffina's, so for the next several hours, she had to sit beside her. For the next several hours, she couldn't focus, her gaze alternating between looking at her teacher, the floor, and her classmate. Clearly the pink-haired lady would do something, like thrash her during magic practice or rat her out to Ms. Accord.

So when she did absolutely nothing of note during the entire class, Lidelle only became even more nervous. Just what was she planning? She swallowed, thoughts duking it out in her mind while people babbled things her brain couldn't be bothered to identify. It was strange, really-- despite being with all her friends, doing things they always did, the imp, at that very moment, never felt so alone and disconnected from everyone.

She just kept thinking that someone was going to realize what she did, and that something was going to hurt her because of it. They were good friends-- surely they'd notice something was off? But they didn't. And she couldn't understand why. Right now she was surrounded by metaphorical enemies, but they didn't pay her any mind while she was drowning in her own panic behind her desk. Were they even experiencing the same day as she was?

She couldn't have been more relieved when the bell rang, and all of the students shuffled outside to spend the rest of their day elsewhere. She hurried out the front, hoping that no one would stop and talk with her, but she froze, sensing that someone was watching her. Dreading whoever was keeping an eye on her, she turned around as inconspiciously as she could, her eyes wavering. Before long, her gaze landed on Klug, who happened to be the one staring at her.

This didn't soothe her at all.

She stood there, unsure of what to do until the crowd began to dispense and he approached her with a smile.

"Ah, Lidelle." He patted her again, and while she felt the immediate urge to pull away, she couldn't bring herself to move. "It seems you were having a rough day, huh?"

"...Why didn't she say anything?"

"I'm not even sure she remembers. Her memory's been faulty lately."

"Did you... do that?"

"...No. I honestly don't know why she's like that. But it helps us out, so I'm not complaining."

"I can't help but feel a little b-bad for her."

He shrugged and shook his head. "Nothing we can really do about it, unfortunately. But enough about that! I have a gift for you." He turned and made his way towards a large tree on the outskirts of town, gesturing for her to follow. Lidelle, unsure of what to do, trailed right behind him.

When they were out of sight, he looked at her and nodded. "Close your eyes and hold your hands out."

She did so, flinching when she felt something weigh down her hands.

"Now open your eyes."

She did again as he asked, and paused.

He had given her a knife. But not just any knife. The hilt was a vibrant blood red, and its consistency was like that of a brilliant amber, reflecting the light in the air as she examined it. Of greater interest, however, was the blade; it was pitch black-- unnaturally so, as it just seemed to be a hole in space. She could've swore she could see glimpses of galaxies inside of it if she was looking at it from the right angle.

As she grabbed the hilt in her massive sleeve, a shiver ran through her body, and her blood ran cold. She tried to drop the accursed weapon, but her hand remained deadly still, unable to pull away. She said nothing, but stared at the blade, her gaze not wanting to look elsewhere. How did Klug get this? Why did Klug get this? ...What was this?

"I can see you're impressed~" Klug grinned and walked behind her, looking over her shoulder.

She remained as silent as the grave, her feet glued to the ground as she struggled to process the situation. He had given her... a knife. Why did he think she ever wanted a knife?

"There's something very important you need to do with that next week," he said, as if he could understand her thoughts.

Of course. Of course it wasn't really meant for her. Of course it was part of something else-- couldn't she just be done already?"It's the last big thing you'll have to do. Don't worry, no one's going to interrupt us this time-- our usual meeting place, 11:30. Do not be late."

Before Lidelle could respond in any capacity, he ducked behind another tree and disappeared. 

Lidelle had no idea what to do now. She contemplated going to hang out with her friends, but she could already sense their glares, demanding to know why she was being horrible all of a sudden. That would've been bad enough on its own, but it was even worse since she didn't have the answer either. What could she really say? Her liking for Klug had taken a sharp, downward time since the start of her apprenticeship several weeks ago, so why was she still doing what he asked?

The thought of those pitch-white glasses made her shudder. Even now, the mental image of them bore into her soul. What was he thinking right now? Was he thinking about her? ...Was he thinking about ways to hurt her?

She couldn't take it. She couldn't do it. In that very moment she resolved to keep her schedule as isolated as possible and ghost Klug-- go to her hovel, go to school, go back to the hovel-- she had at least a month's worth of food stored in her basement in case she got snowed in, so it shouldn't be too bad, right?

The first few days were... tolerable. She hadn't spoken to anyone at all. In fact, she hadn't spoken a single word. She was certain that the others noticed, but she had always scurried away before they could ask about it. Instead, she buried herself in her plushies back at home, hoping that the faux-affection would soothe her. It did, at first.

But as the end of the week approached, she found herself fidgeting more and more. Every little movement in the corners of her eyes immediately caught her attention. Phantom sounds of breathing and footsteps kept her on constant alert. What finally made Lidelle try to do something was on the 6th day when she heard the sound of rain against her bedroom window at 6 in the morning.

It wasn't exactly rain, persay. The tapping echoed around in her ears, but once she pried her eyes open to start the day, it suddenly stopped. Curiosity drove her to open the curtains, and when she looked out, she realized that there wasn't a cloud for miles.

It was then that she decided that all this isolation was getting to her. She needed some fresh air. And so, as soon as she had eaten breakfast, she made her way outside. Today wasn't a school day, so she could spend all day at the nearby pond and no one could stop her. The still, shimmering film of water was a welcome relief after all of this, and she sat down on a nearby rock and simply watched.

No one else was there, not even the Dongurigaeru that liked to swim in the pool of water. Occasionally, she'd glance up and swivel her gaze in search of them; occasionally she'd catch glimpses of them peeking out from behind a tree, and they'd immediately duck back out of sight. Were they afraid of her?

After several minutes of wondering why they were scared of her, something pricked her arm underneath her sleeve. She winced, briefly pulled up her sleeve to see what it was, then paused. She didn't remember taking that knife with her, yet here it was, tucked away within her clothing. She just stared down at it, wondering how it had made its way into her hands.

She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, but as soon as she heard heavy footfalls, she shoved the knife back into her sleeve just in time to see Tartar making his way past the trees and into view.

"Oh, there you are!" He said, walking towards her. "I was wondering where you were all week."

She couldn't do anything but stare up at him with a weak smile. As much as she was relieved to find her love here, her body couldn't seem to recognize that he wasn't a threat.

He paused. "Is something wrong? You look like you saw a ghost. Did Yu and Rei try to scare you?"

She swallowed. All she had to do was tell him that Klug was being really dark and she had gotten way in over her head and could really use someone by her side right now and maybe some advice and a way to leave town safely and--

"...Yes."

She screamed at herself internally-- why did she say that?! That was literally the worst thing she could've said to help her situation right now! She can't just talk about it now-- that would be weird...

"Oh, I'm sorry... here, come closer." He opened his arms wide for a hug, and that finally freed her from whatever was keeping her in place as she entered into his embrace with a sob. She wrapped her arms around him as best as she could, not caring that the knife in her sleeve was digging into her arm again as she started to bawl.

He picked her up off the ground and held her close to his chest, allowing her to hear the faint sound of his breathing and heartbeat. It was a smooth, steady rhythm on both parts, and she couldn't be more relieved to be within his grasp. It was almost like nothing could hurt her like this, not when he was protecting her.

That still didn't stop her from crying, especially now that the knife was actually starting to draw blood. She shuddered and yelped, and he immediately put her back down and stepped back, frowning.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt..." He froze, noting the blade starting to slip out of her sleeve. "...you?"

The weapon finally freed itself and fell to the ground, soon followed by a slow trickle of blood. "I..."

He knelt down in front of her, gesturing for her to offer her hand. She hesitantly complied, and he pulled back the sleeve to examine her gnarled claws, much to her dismay. Her nails were black and curled, and the skin was dry and shriveled, a faint grey save for the jagged cut dyeing the left side of her arm red. "Why were you holding a knife?"

She looked down at the blade, and words finally started to spill out of her-- words from six agonizing days came tumbling out in a period of time she had little recollection of. All she could remember from that particular moment was that Tartar was listening as he tended to her wound with some sort of poultice.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He finished wrapping a cloth around her wound and took the knife.

"I... I was scared..." She shivered, looking over her injury. "Klug's... dangerous..."

There was silence for the span of a minute before Tartar put away the blade and coaxed her back into his arms. "He can't hurt you here. Alright? You have a lot of friends here and I'm sure they'd protect you if they knew what was happening."

"But I broke a bunch of Raffina's things! I'm... bad..."

"Would you have done that if Klug hadn't been egging you on?"

"N-no..."

"Then I don't think you're fully to blame here. We can sort out that breaking and entering issue later if you want-- right now we need to tell everyone."

"I... can't... please, you might be in danger... you might put them all in danger."

"We're already all in danger if Klug's doing this. You don't have to come with me if you're not comfortable, but I'm telling them."

"...Okay. Um... I kinda just want to go home and h-hide if that's okay..."

"Fine by me. Let me take you there." He chuckled and set her on his shoulders, letting her wrap her arms around his neck as he set off.

Time almost seemed to melt away as his rhythmic steps echoed in her ears. She rested her head on the back of Tartar's head, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. And for a while, she just held on, her mind wandering into peaceful bliss as she recalled all the other times he had been there for her.

A waterfall pouring down, an umbrella floating in the middle of the pond during a rainy afternoon. He picks her up by her arms and makes his way to the edge of the rocky pool, holding her out so she could grasp the handle and pull it back.

An autumn day blows away her picnic blanket. He climbs a tree and pulls it down, and they both laugh over the experience.

And now this. She smiled weakly, wondering how he ever ended up in her life in the first place. "Thank you..." she murmured. "Thank you for everything."

"It's quite alright, Lidelle. Anything for you."

"This means a lot to me."

"I know."

"And the whole umbrella thing."

"I know."

"And the picnic thing."

He chuckled. "I know, I know! You're welcome for all of that."

"Heh... What did I ever do to deserve you...?"

"I don't know, but it must've been something wonderful!"

"...Then why do I feel like I don't deserve you?"

"The mind is a strange and unpredictable place. Sometimes these thoughts just sneak into your head, and then they won't leave."

"Do those thoughts ever go away?"

"I don't know, honestly. But I hope so."

That comment was the last thing said during the trip home, leaving a vaguely meloncholic mood in the surrounding air. Once they arrived at Lidelle's hovel, he set her down, patting her on the head.

"Stay safe, Lidelle."

"I should be the one saying that to you."

"Fair, fair. Hey, how about we go out for tea when this whole thing blows over?"

"I... I'd like that. A lot, actually."

"'It's settled, then!" He kneeled down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you."

She kissed him back, blushing. "I love you too."

He stood up and departed, so she retreated into her hovel and slammed the door shut.

The following hours had been spent adding locks to everything that could be opened-- the door, the windows, the drawers-- everything. She had even leafed through her old booklet of protection spells and drew chalk circles everywhere in case Klug decided to teleport in. Frankly she had no idea whether her magic was strong enough to keep him at bay, but drawing the circles put her at ease and thus she did it anyway.

Afternoon soon turned to night, and she grabbed a few crackers as a quick snack before making her way to the bedroom. However, as she crossed the threshold into her sleeping quarters, she paused; a very violent, dark aura had settled into the place and she had no idea why. She narrowed her eyes and glanced around. Nothing really stood out at first, but as she looked closer, she realized that something was on the mushroom table next to her bed. She didn't remember leaving anything there, so she slowly approached.

It was only when she got right up next to it that her mind fully registered what she was looking at in the dark. Her heart sank to the floor, her hands grew cold and clammy, and the room seemed to close in on her as she stared down the object in horror.

The empty abyss of the knife seemed to stare back.

**A Choice**

Lidelle's thoughts were running wild. How did it get here? Why was it here? Was Tartar okay? Well, deep down, she knew he probably wasn't, but her mind was spinning around too fast to consider what must've happened. But after a few seconds, her thoughts were shoved aside by something that wasn't from her, and in their place rang a stern command.

"Come."

She swallowed, the word overbearing in her mind as her hands fumbled for the hilt's blade. Klug was waiting for her, and she doubted that he was going to be happy, and yet her body was freely beginning to undo the seven locks to her door. She had struggled against it at first, but then she recalled Tartar's face. At that moment she decided she had to figure out what happened, and so she let her body pull her outside and into the night.

There was a faint, flickering warmth in the woods, and her body approached it. She stopped about a foot away, watching the flame waver on top of the pole it sat on. Despite the fire dancing nearby, her and everything surrounding her felt icy cold, like the forest itself was disapproving of her presence.

When her body didn't move for several minutes, she came to the conclusion that she was in full control of it again. She turned, looking down the way she came and seeing only darkness. When she turned back to the fire, she noticed several more burning poles lighting up a path ahead of her. A small part of her was tempted to run off into the night and hide, but she was already out here and she needed to figure out what was going on.

She derided herself for that mindset, seeing as it was exactly what got her into this mess, but she pressed forward, seeing no other option. The embers warped and morphed as she progressed, taking the visages of mournful faces she didn't recognize. Trees had their branches in front of them, giving the impression that they were hiding their faces in shame.

Unnerved by her macabre surroundings, she opted to crane her head towards the sky. It was mostly dark, but a couple stars were glimmering in the night. They were watching her, probably. ...And did one of them just blink?

She shut her eyes and started barreling down the path, opening them occasionally so she could reorient herself. The third time she opened her eyes, she saw new shapes taking form in the shadows, a torch casting a dim rimlight onto the scene in front of her. She immediately recognized the figure on the left as Klug, since the unnatural shining of his glasses cut through the darkness. He had his hand on his hips, impatiently tapping his foot and sometimes glancing at the waning crescent moon above him.

The other figure was far less clear to her-- she could recognize some sort of totem pole, and the fact that someone was tied to it, but... well, now that she was thinking about it, she knew it could only be one person. Hesitantly, she drew closer, releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding when she found that it was, in fact, Tartar. His legs and arms were bound to the pole with black, sludgy rope, and sickly obsidian hands emerged from the rope to hold his mouth shut. His beady eyes, injured and surrounded by faintly glowing runes, looked over to her, silently pleading for her to do something.

Lidelle was hoping that something would kick in and give her the mental strength to do anything but stand there and gawk like an idiot. Once, just once, she wanted to be more than someone stuck on the sidelines-- that she could be the hero for once. But it never came.

"It's good to finally see you, Lidelle."

She swiveled around and looked up at Klug, trembling. He didn't even sound mad, and his relaxed stature bore no sense of ill will, yet she felt like she was in for the beating of a lifetime. "...Hi, Klug."

"You know, I thought we were making real progress."

She said nothing, slowly hunching to the ground.

"I mean, you did so well back at Raffina's house, and back when we first tested you. What happened?"

Slowly, she raised a hand to reply. "Well--"

He held up a hand in response. "No, no need to make excuses. I think I know what happened." He then put both of his hands behind his back and leaned forward, his face uncomfortably close to hers as she was forced to stare into the white abyss of his glasses. "You are a coward. That's what you are. You're so afraid of what I could do to you, I don't think you ever truly stopped to consider what I could do for you. We could've been the best of allies-- all you had to do was keep silent. If you had kept your mouth shut, I think you would've enjoyed being here a lot more."

"What... what do you mean?"

"My eyes were not set on Tartar at first. No, in fact, I was planning to have Raffina here, all tied up for you to sacrifice."

"S-sacrifice?!" She squeaked, dread finally beginning to take hold.

"Yes! Tonight is the perfect night for it-- the moon's light is waning, approximately 6/16ths of it is shining, the stars have aligned, and the skies are clear enough for it! This will theoretically make it easier for Limbo to reach us in the future if it's performed right, and I figured that you were worthy enough to have the honor of wielding the knife for it."

"But I don't... want... to hurt him...!"

"You didn't have to. Literally all you had to do was keep your pathetic mouth shut and Tartar would be in bed, sleeping peacefully, and you would've gotten the opportunity to pay back Raffina for all the cruelties she had sent your way. But no, no you didn't. I'm disappointed-- it takes more effort to speak than to remain silent, and yet you still botched that up. You broke your promise, and these sorts of things have consequences."

She whimpered softly, bowing her head to the ground so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Please... please, please, let him go! We can do this some other time! Use your weird memory magic and make him forget everything I said-- use me instead! But please... don't kill him...!"

"It's a bit late for that-- it's going to be a long while before these perfect conditions will pop back up again, and I can't inscribe you with the proper runes in time for this. Tartar will die tonight, and it's your fault that it has to end this way."

"I... I'm not going to kill him!" She raised herself up, finding a surge of courage that allowed her to redirect all the magic inside her to her palms. "ABYSS!" She screamed, thrusting her hands forward. She watched as the space in and around Klug distorted and shook, but when it returned to normal, he was still there, glaring at her with his fingers dispersing the ambient magic.

"...So you decide that now is the perfect time to be bold. Oh, you foolish ingrate, you think I would've taught you that without having some sort of defense against it? How amusing."

He snapped his fingers, and immediately black tendrils erupted all around her. In an instant, they lashed, wrapping around her arms, legs and neck as they forced her down to the ground, completely restraining her.

"...Heh. I was right. You're not prepared for Limbo... not yet, anyway. But we can change that! Pay your penance, perform the sacrifice, and we can forget that this whole betrayal never happened, alright?"

"I'm... not--"

Klug's voice finally broke free of it's level-headed facade. "IF YOU DON'T KILL HIM THEN I WILL KILL THE BOTH OF YOU! And trust me, Lidelle, I know ways to make your death pure, abject misery. Do you understand?"

She nodded slightly, and the tendrils loosened their grip. When she made no move to struggle or lunge, they retreated fully, allowing her to stand back up.

"Good, good. Now when I give you the order, what you're going to do is use the knife to open his abdominal cavity. You're then going to take his organs out and put the knife inside. I will handle the rest."

She turned, slowly walking up to Tartar. Neither of them said nothing for the longest while, but eventually...

"...Klug?" She asked, remaining still.

"What is it?"

"...How did you find out?"

"When you start to look for the Unspeakable, it never stops looking for you. No one can hide from it. Through the stars in the sky, through the images in fire, and through life and death itself, it watches, and those who are worthy can watch with it. You'd be amazed at what you could learn through it."

So... that was it. No wonder she felt like such a fool right now. It was her and her alone that dragged Tartar into this... and for what, to give her comfort? How could she have been so selfish? She choked out a few sobs, finally coming to a realization: that little voice in her head was right; she didn't deserve to have Tartar. He didn't do anything to deserve a wretched mongrel like her.

She fell to her knees, weeping, her head hanging low. Her wails echoed long and hard into the night, only slowing when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Shh... shh... it'll be alright in the end."

"But I'm... worthless... why do you still want me...?"

"The Unspeakable turns no one away. Everyone is capable of being a god in its domain, even the weak, the pathetic, and especially the worthless. We will make you into something greater, Lidelle, I can promise you that. This is just... a detour. Even though all this, we want to make you into something wonderful. We still love you."

She took a few deep breaths, then nodded. "I... love... you too..."

"Good girl..." He pet her head, and at this point, she no longer had the emotional strength to do anything but lean into it. "How about we have some tea tomorrow? Tonight's been stressful for all of us."

"S-sure... that sounds nice..."

"It's settled then. Now get ready-- the moon has almost reached its apex!"

She slowly stood up, holding the knife gingerly as she focused on Tartar once more. She swallowed. "I'm so sorry."

He couldn't say anything, for his mouth was clamped shut, but he nodded forlornly. She reached out a hand to brush his cheek. He sighed weakly, closing his eyes and bowing his head. She slowly retracted her hand and backed off, looking up to watch the moon as it moved slowly into place.

"Now!" Klug announced.

And on that fateful night in the woods, a decision was made.


End file.
